Alexstrasza
Alexstrasza is a Ranged Support hero from the Warcraft universe. She is a Healer who shares her Health with allies and can also transform into a Dragon to empower her abilities. Background Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, Aspect Leader and Queen of the red dragonflight and Aspect of Life, is the guardian of all life in the world of Azeroth. She was one of five great dragons chosen by the titans to be empowered with a portion of the Pantheon's power and rule over her flight while they watched over Azeroth and its inhabitants. The titans also appointed her queen of all dragons. Gameplay Summary Alexstrasza is the first Support Hero in the game that focuses on healing percentage. Because of this, she excels on healing Warriors and other Heroes with larger healthpools, as their healing received will be higher. She is also unique as her trait, , allows her to transform in her true form, gaining a massive boost in health, as well empowering all her abilities. Overall, Alexstrasza works well in team compositions featuring multiple Warriors, and truly shines when paired with a supplementary Support to keep her at max health, given how performance is based directly on Alexstrasza current health. However, she is more than capable of solo healing. Strengths *Relatively low mana usage. *High burst and sustained healing. *All abilities have good range. * costs no mana, instead depleting a percentage of Alexstrasza's health to heal the ally. **While in form, it becomes , healing 5% more, costing no health and having its cooldown set to 3 seconds. * is a potent area of effect heal, specially in teams with multiple Warriors. **While in form, it becomes , healing 10% more and having a larger radius. * is a great poking tool, and deals increased damage when hitting a Hero already affected by Flame Buffet. **While in form, it becomes , which instead deals knockback in area. * is a Heroic-level cooldown that greatly empowers Alexstrasza, being capable of changing the course of teamfights. **The bonus health she gains while in this form scales with the team level. * can completely heal either Alexstrasza or her target if either are at max health. * provides Alexstrasza with a nearly global presence, allowing her both deal both healing and damage. * provides a massive health bonus, and can be used on more than one ally, essentially allowing the entire team, save for Alexstrasza herself, to have 500 extra health. Weaknesses *Limited damage, waveclear and sieging outside of . *Reliant on other Heroes to keep allied structures safe. *Limited self-healing. *Susceptible to dives, focus fire and poke damage. * healing is drastically lowered if Alexstrasza is at low health. * has a quite lengthy cooldown, and requires proper timing and positioning to heal as many allies as possible. **In addition, its telegraphed glyph on the floor can be seen by the enemy team, giving them time to intercept and prevent the team from being healed. *While is a powerful ability, it has very long cooldown, as well making Alexstrasza a much larger target (therefore more susceptible to skillshots and area damage). **It is also very easy to intercept due its considerably long activation time. *Has very poor mobility unless is taken. * has little effect if both Alexstrasza and/or her target are at low health. Abilities Traits Heroic Abilities Talents Tier 1, Hero Level 1 Tier 2, Hero Level 4 Tier 3, Hero Level 7 Tier 4, Hero Level 10 Tier 5, Hero Level 13 Tier 6, Hero Level 16 Tier 7, Hero Level 20 Talent Builds *Gift of Life Build: focused on greatly buffing , at the expense of only doing so when Alexstrasza is above 75%. However, the level 7 quest provides Alexstrasza with a massive powerspike that makes her Gift of Life cost no health. This build is useful in most situations and team compositions, however truly shines in double Support Teams, as the secondary healer can keep Alexstrasza above 75% health most of the time to ensure she will get the added effects of the Gift of Life talents. *Abundance Build: focused on maximizing the area healing of with the addition of more utility and benefits. The level 1 quest talent, , has a powerful synergy with the level 4 talent, , which makes not only Alexstrasza a powerful fountain of health globes for her team, but in turn can also help team members that are also pursuing to complete health globe talents. This build is mostly recommended in teams that are not very mobile and on maps where defending static objectives is a must. *Flame Buffet Build: focused on maximizing the damage output and utility of , as well her usage of to gain the upper hand during teamfights. The key level 1 quest talent, , once completed, adds more value to Dragonqueen, allowing Alexstrasza to slowly reduce its very high cooldown each time she hits an enemy consecutively with Flame Buffet. This build is mostly recommended when the team needs additional sources of damage and already has a dedicated healer. Tips *Positioning is key when playing with Alexstrasza. She has to keep away from enemy fire as much as possible in order to maximize the effects of . *Picking any of the Gift of Life talents will display a small indicator on Alexstrasza's healthbar to show when she is above 75% health. The Gift of Life icon in the action bar will also glow to alert the player. *Try to hit as many Heroes as possible with , especially if pursuing the quest talent. **In addition, it is quite useful for waveclear as long at least one target that is already under its burning effect is hit, as it will refund the mana. *Do not use unless really necessary, since it has very long cooldown; treat it as a Heroic Ability, using it during crucial teamfights. **While Alexstrasza gains a bonus to her maximum health during Dragonqueen, it is important to remember that by default her base health is quite low, so avoid direct conflict even when in Dragonqueen form. **When transforming back to her elf form, Alexstrasza is cleared of most negative effects and debuffs. One notable example is how Malthael's will clear if Dragonqueen ends before it triggers. *Due the nature of , Alexstrasza truly shines on static map objectives, such as Infernal Shrines and Braxis Holdout. Make sure to cover enough area to heal allies within its range. **Additionally, use it on a safe spot, that won't make the allied team open to enemy retaliation. * is useful to save either Alexstrasza or her target, as long the difference in health percentage is significant (i.e. if both have around 40% health) * is incredibly versatile, being a both offensive and defensive cooldown, which provides Alexstrasza with a strong escape tool. **It gets the highest value during teamfights in small areas, where allies and foes are more likely to cluster, therefore allowing Alexstrasza do deal healing and damage at the same time. **This Heroic Ability is great to use against heavy dive compositions, where Alexstrasza is more likely to become a priority target due her low mobility. **If using Cleansing Flame while in , its duration won't be affected by the Heroic Ability, meaning the player can use the ability and return in dragon form. Matchups Pairings While Alexstrasza is perfectly capable of solo-healing, she is best when paired with another healer to keep her at high health all, to maximize the effectiveness of (especially when talented into it). Also, given that her healing is percentage-based, she shines in team compositions featuring multiple Warriors (where a strong frontline can enable her to heal safely) or other Heroes with high healthpool. Ana's low cooldown healing through allows her to keep Alexstrasza at max health whenever she uses . However, it should be noted that do not increase the effects of Alexstrasza's percentage-based healing; it will only affect healing, as it is not percentage-based. Brightwing brings a lot of utility to the match (damage reduction, movement speed, global presence), as well a efficient sustained healing that can keep Alexstrasza at consistent health to use . Boasting from the highest base health in the game, Cho'gall gets great value from Alexstrasza healing. In addition, his poke-oriented gameplay through Gall's abilities have great synergy with Alexstrasza's own poke tool: . Diablo can achieve an very high healthpool thanks to , allowing him to get more value from Alexstrasza's healing. Medivh provides a lot of utility to the team. His can protect Alexstrasza in crucial moments where her is much needed, while his aids her low mobility. Much like Diablo, Nazeebo can increase his own healthpool with , therefore receiving more heal from Alexstrasza. Stitches high base health, especially if talented into self-sustain, can make him achieve a health as large as Diablo and Cho'gall, making him incredibly resilient thanks to Alexstrasza healing combined with his own high self-sustain. Effective against Effective foes Alexstrasza's bread and butter heal, , becomes less and less effective the lower her health is. Because of that, Heroes capable of efficient poke damage can hinder her full potential. In addition, Alexstrasza very poor mobility and lack of self-peel outside of makes her extremely vulnerable to diving and focus fire. Ana has a lot of tools at her disposal to make Alexstrasza's life a nightmare. Her passive damage-over-time through can slowly dish out Alexstrasza health and render less effective, while can make Alexstrasza waste her own health for no healing effect. Lastly, Ana can interrupt and . with , or even during Dragonqueen Cho'gall is very capable of harassing Alexstrasza either from distance of in close combat thanks to his immense bulk and poke damage potential, allowing to dive into the backline and dish enough damage to make Alexstrasza's heals a lot less powerful. Garrosh can capitalize on the positioning of Alexstrasza's allies trying to get heals from with his + combo. In addition, Alexstrasza becomes a larger target to pull this combo while she is in form. Genji's efficient poke damage through can slowly worn Alexstrasza off, reducing her healing output, and opening chances for Genji to dive and execute her. Illidan's high mobility and ability to stick on his targets is a nightmare to Alexstrasza. Junkrat has one of the most harrassing poke tools in the game in the form of , especially if talented into it. He can also easily displace Alexstrasza's allies from getting healed by Kel'Thuzad can harass Alexstrasza's allies from being healed by thanks to his combo abilities. In addition, while in , Alexstrasza becomes a much larger target, therefore making easier for Kel'Thuzad to land his devastating combos. The Butcher can capitalize on Alexstrasza poor mobility and intercept her more powerful cooldowns with his + combo. Tracer's can efficiently zap around the battlefield and harass Alexstrasza, capitalizing on her poor mobility. Skins ;The Life-Binder (base) ;Dragon Aspect :The many realms of the Nexus teem with myriad living beings who both empower Alexstrasza and beseech her for protection. The Aspect of Life stands ready to safeguard them all. ;Dark Queen (all skins are in a bundle) :Sealed away by the Star Princesses millennia ago, the Dark Queen of the Dragons has finally broken free of her imprisonment. At long last, she will have her revenge on the people of Earth. :This skin is related to the Eternal Empire themed-skins. Features altered voice-over and themed abilities. ;Spectral Wyrm Alexstrasza After the Grave Keeper's domination by the Raven Lord, Spectral Wyrm Alexstrasza pledged her phantoms to his side. With the Aspect of Undeath serving as a general of his armies, what hope does King's Crest have? Development Concept art for Alexstrasza began with her elf form, then her dragon form. The developers used Azmodan' size (based on his size from the Diablo lore) as a baseline model for her dragon form (to be made larger), and Uther was used as a frame of reference for her elf form (who is used as base for all Heroes). In addition, Alexstrasza has extra animation frames when turning around, as the developers judged it would be weird to make her turn and spin around instantly.2017-11-04, BlizzCon 2017: Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive Panel Live Blog. Blizzard Watch, accessed on 2017-11-05 Her de facto appearance is taken from Warcraft, but was altered to make her appear more "queenly".2017-11-07, BlizzCon 2017 Heroes of the Storm Interview | Blizzplanet. YouTube, accessed on 2017-11-15 She is decked out in ornments and jewellry, in order to reflect her regal status as the queen of dragons.2017-11-23, BlizzCon 2017 Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2017-11-26 This, by extent, helps differentiate Alexstrasza from Sylvanas, since in World of Warcraft they both share the same base model and armor design. "Dragons" and "Life" were the two main themes the developers used to build Alexstrasza's gameplay mechanics. It was important to convey that she isn't any dragon: she is the Dragon Aspect of Life. The developers created her abilities based on similar dragon mechanics and abilities: * is based on the ability Healing Well used by the Young Storm Dragons seen in the Vortex Pinnacle, a dungeon from World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. * is based on the ability of the same name used by the Firemaw in Blackwing Lair, a raid from the original World of Warcraft. * is based on Alexstrasza's card in Hearthstone. * 's core concept was originally meant for Probius, where he would summon a protoss mothership to bombard his enemies. The development team found that to contradict with his builder-oriented gameplay, and scrapped the idea. This was later moved to Alexstrasza instead.2017-11-23, BlizzCon 2017 Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2017-11-26 Trivia * Alexstrasza is the first 2.0 hero to have a "master skin" equivalent in the form of the "Dragon Aspect" skin. ** The last Hero to have a Master Skin before Heroes of the Storm 2.0 was D.Va. * Alexstrasza is the second dragon Hero added to the game, after Chromie. Patch changes * * References External links *Alexstrasza's article on WoWWiki Category:Heroes Category:Support Category:Dragon Category:Elf Category:Human Category:Aspects Category:Dragon Aspects Category:Deities